- Joined
- Aug 22, 2013
- Messages
- 28,848
- Reaction score
- 73
- Points
- 173
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...-underground-city/ar-AAa5vus?ocid=ansNewser11
It's a stunning find discovered by accident: Construction workers demolishing homes in Turkey's Nevsehir province in 2013 ended up discovering the entrance to what could be the largest ancient underground city ever found in the region.
Construction work was halted and scientists took over; they say that while it's not yet clear exactly how big the subterranean network of rooms and tunnels is, they estimate it to be about 5 million square feet and extending as far as 371 feet below ground.
That would make it roughly 30% larger than the largest excavated underground city found in the historical Cappadocia region so far, Derinkuyu, whose capacity is thought to be 20,000 people.
The retreat, carved from soft ash rock as many as 5,000 years ago, would have been used in case of invaders, National Geographic reports; artifacts found at the site suggest its occupation stretched through the Ottoman conquest.
The multi-level complex was a developed one, complete with staircases, kitchens, wineries, chapels, grindstones, air shafts, water channels, corridors, and even lamp-oil presses. (Derinkuyu was 18 stories, notes the Washington Post, and also included stores and escape routes.) The city's current mayor wants to build walking trails and a museum showcasing the underground spectacle and even "re-open the underground churches," he says—though, for now, even further exploration is risky.
As such, Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reports a geo-radar machine is being used to gather information that's then handed to the excavators. (Also recently found underground: a secret Nazi factory.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Found in Turkey: Huge Underground City
It's a stunning find discovered by accident: Construction workers demolishing homes in Turkey's Nevsehir province in 2013 ended up discovering the entrance to what could be the largest ancient underground city ever found in the region.
Construction work was halted and scientists took over; they say that while it's not yet clear exactly how big the subterranean network of rooms and tunnels is, they estimate it to be about 5 million square feet and extending as far as 371 feet below ground.
That would make it roughly 30% larger than the largest excavated underground city found in the historical Cappadocia region so far, Derinkuyu, whose capacity is thought to be 20,000 people.
The retreat, carved from soft ash rock as many as 5,000 years ago, would have been used in case of invaders, National Geographic reports; artifacts found at the site suggest its occupation stretched through the Ottoman conquest.
The multi-level complex was a developed one, complete with staircases, kitchens, wineries, chapels, grindstones, air shafts, water channels, corridors, and even lamp-oil presses. (Derinkuyu was 18 stories, notes the Washington Post, and also included stores and escape routes.) The city's current mayor wants to build walking trails and a museum showcasing the underground spectacle and even "re-open the underground churches," he says—though, for now, even further exploration is risky.
As such, Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reports a geo-radar machine is being used to gather information that's then handed to the excavators. (Also recently found underground: a secret Nazi factory.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Found in Turkey: Huge Underground City
